Dragon Bonds
by ShadowStrikerXx
Summary: Hiccup was always the… well, the hiccup of the Hairy Hooligans viking tribe, different from all the other viking children. Which would have been fine, except he was the son of the Chief. The bullying, neglect and animosity only got worse as he grew; even at his age, he could tell that his father and the rest of the village hated him. So when he saw an out, he took it. AU
1. Prologue

Hiccup silently crept over the edge of the ship, his small legs barely enough to reach the steps of the ladder. His basket over his shoulder, he ran up and over the sand dunes that separated the beach from the forest of this island, unnoticed by the Vikings restocking supplies and making camp for the night. This would make the perfect place for his new home. Even though he didn't have too much to boast of, he was sure that he could manage to live on his own.

Stowing away on the ship of the visiting tribe leader had been the easy part to his escape. The rest would have to come. Even at the age of six, he was smarter than most Vikings and had planned everything out. His father's map had shown him this island, largely unoccupied except for the native wildlife, and he had decided that he would live here. Away from everyone would call him different.

He found a nice cave in the center of the island, not too deep, and high enough that no one would find him. He started to unpack his small bag of equipment near the mouth of the cave. What he didn't realize was that it was already occupied.

At the back of the cave, a Night Fury dragon and her hatchling blended into their surrounding darkness, watching the small boy carry out his business. The large Night Fury growled lowly. Hiccup turned and saw a pair of bright green eyes staring at him and jumped slightly. She crept forward, curious as to why this tiny human was alone in her cave.

Perhaps more were coming? Did she need to prepare to take her hatchling and leave the safe cave? Hiccup didn't dare move, scared to anger the dragon. All Vikings feared and hated dragons, but Hiccup had always been slightly more fascinated by them than most. Still scared, for sure, but curiosity killed the cat. When she was close enough, she sniffed the human boy. The smells from his tribe were faint, so he had not been in contact with them for several days or more.

Comforted in this, she determined that this little one was not a threat to her young. In fact, she could smell the loneliness in his heart. She came close enough for Hiccup to touch him. He stepped even closer to her, too curious about this large dragon to do anything else. If he got eaten, so be it. He didn't have anything else to live for anyway. Maybe she would do it without pain. He closed his eyes and waited.

When she rubbed her cheek against his hair, a little spark of hope flared in Hiccup's tiny frail heart. He had been rejected by his own kind, hated by his own father. Maybe his father's enemy could finally be his family.


	2. Chapter 1

Hiccup smiled as he jumped off the cliff. Falling was the closest he could get to truly flying anyway. But his free will was abruptly stopped when something caught him out of the sky. He looked up at the claws that held him. Uh oh…

 **"Hiccup, how many times have I told you not to do that? You're going to give me a heart attack!"** Thunder asked the boy. She had never liked him doing that, even if his brother was around to catch him.

Over the past four years, Thunder had come to care and love the human boy as if he were another hatchling, even as far as to introduce him to the Alpha King of Dragons. And during this time, the small boy had learned how to understand the language of dragons. So he knew very well the reprimand that was going to come next from his surrogate mother.

She set him down on the ground and then landed in front of him. **"Hiccup, dear, you could really hurt yourself. I know that you always believe that Toothless or I will be there to catch you, but one day we might not. And then what would happen? You would plummet to the ground. And I would lose you."**

"Yes, mother. I'm sorry," replied the boy, his head hanging in shame. Thunder rubbed her head against his to display her love and forgiveness and he ran off again, probably to find his brother.

When Hiccup had been accepted into his new family, it had taken them a short while to adjust. Toothless was still, in dragon terms, a hatching at six years, and they had taken to each other instantly. The two were now almost inseparable. But when that dreadful Queen had entered the archipelago nest the next few months, Thunder had taken her two children to the Dragon Sanctuary, where the Alpha ruled in kindness.

He had allowed the small boy refuge in the nest, even to go as far as to command the dragons in his care to teach him about the dragon way of life.

"Come on Toothless! Let's go flying!" Hiccup yelled. Toothless was only more than happy to comply since he loved to fly and be close to his brother, who had no wings of his own to speak of. When he was smaller, he didn't understand why the hatchling his mother had taken in had no wings or tail, but he slowly understood as they grew.

The Great White Bewilderbeast rumbled lowly, **"Boys, be careful not to fly too far. The Sentries have reported some human vessel activity in the area."**

 **"We will be safe! We promise our King,"** the two boys chanted together, same as they did all the time.

Thunder watched as her two hatchlings flew off. She knew they had done this a hundred of times, and they always came back safely, yet the feeling of dread never left her heart. She expressed as much to the Great King, who stated, **"I understand, Thunder. I have the same feeling."**

The boys flew for a while before coming to rest on a small sea stack they could see their home from, on the lookout for those human vessels in the sea. They spotted one and were careful not to launch into the air while it was in range of them. What they didn't notice was the second one, which was hiding in the fog bank a little bit behind them.

"Let's go home, bud."

"NIGHT FURY!"

Arrows, bolas, nets, chains were all hurled in the air, Toothless managing to twist and turn to get away. In the dragon's efforts to evade all attempts at capture, one of the arrows pierced the young boy on his back. Hiccup cried in pain, and Toothless almost halted, but an arrow whizzing past reminded him of where he was. The dragon flew high into the clouds and the angry Vikings below cursed their gods for being unable to capture their prize.

 **"Brother, what has happened? Are you okay?"** Toothless asked, concern and worry lacing his dragon rumbles.

"I'll be okay, Toothless. But we have to get home. Now. The arrow…"

Hiccup looked down at the arrow that had pierced his stomach. He knew he was losing a lot of blood, but held strong for the sake to Toothless getting the home first before panicking. Toothless streaked the short distance home, staying above the clouds so the Vikings couldn't see them again. Waiting for them by the entrance was Thunder, having been sitting there since they left.

She sensed her human hatchling's pain before she saw him, running to meet them just as he fell off the back of his dragon brother. **"My little Hiccup! An arrow! Those humans will pay for hurting my son!"** she roared.

All the dragons nearby, who had come to grow fond of the small human looked on with concern and worry. Hiccup shivered from the cold in his body but reached up to touch his mother's snout, trying to reassure her that he would be alright. He could force no words from his mouth, weakness seeping into his heart.

Thunder carried her hatchling to the healer dragons, where they could take better care of him. However, after they were able to dislodge the arrow from Hiccups stomach, he lost even more blood. Stopping the bleeding proved tricky but they managed, now it was just infection that they were worried about. Halfway through the procedure, Hiccup fell unconscious from the pain.

A few days past and the wound showed signs of infection. With every hour that passed, it became more clear that the poor boy would die. The entire nest felt solemn and forlorn, believing this to be the end of the human hatchling that they all loved. Thunder furiously paced the ledge, and Toothless sat quietly beside his brother guilty and believing this to be all his fault. The Great White King turned his head and came closer to the family. **"Thunder, stop pacing. There is still hope."**

 **"How, King? My son, my little Hiccup. No one wanted him on his human village, they abandoned him. How can I show him that we will not treat him the same way?"**

"Initiate the dragon bond."

Thunder stopped and looked at him, stunned. **"The… But, King. He may not survive the bond in his condition. It may very well kill him itself."**

The King ignored her and looked at her other son, the dragon curled up to protect his brother and give him warmth and comfort. **"Toothless, Night Fury, would you bond with your brother to save his life?"**

The smaller Night Fury looked directly into the King's eyes. **"I would do anything for my brother."** He didn't know what the bond was, but if it had a chance of saving his brother, he would take it. Toothless loved Hiccup more than anything in the world, and he knew Hiccup felt the same way. They would go to the ends of the world to protect each other. While they may not have been blood brothers, they had a connection stronger than even that.

The Bewilderbeast looked at the two young ones in front of him and decided that they were worth it. They were brave, bold, strong and smart hatchlings and they would be able to survive the bonding. **"Then, little Night Fury, draw blood and run it into the wounds of your brother, and then his mouth."** The Bewilderbeast proceeded to do the same. To create the dragon bond between a human and dragon, one needed the blood of the Alpha and the dragon that was to be the bonded. This magic that the Bewilderbeast possessed in his blood allowed for the connection to be made.

Hiccup's heart began to beat furiously, and Toothless collapsed in pain beside his brother. This process was painful, but the Great White King could feel the bond grow as surely as he knew that Hiccup would live to see another day. The brother's pre-existing bond, the connection they had was strong enough to survive the process. Thunder watched in awe as Hiccup's infection started to recede, and the injury close over in a matter of minutes. Hiccup's breathing began to even and he was no longer sweating with fever. He would survive.


	3. Chapter 2

"Toothless, you know that doesn't wash out!" The dragon laughed. "Yes, yes, laugh it up." Hiccup then surprised his brother by tackling him to the ground. They started to wrestle until their mother walked past.

 **"Really, boys? Can you please refrain from acting like complete children?"**

They shook their heads. "No, mother. We love to wrestle!" Hiccup replied, Toothless nodding in agreement.

Thunder rolled her eyes at their antics. **"Well, then, not now. The King wishes to see you both."**

The bonded brothers got up and walked through the series of ice caves and tunnels to the great chamber where the King resided. They bowed before him before Hiccup jumped up onto one of the tusks and sat down. "What did you need, King?"

The King chuckled. **"You and Toothless are the only bonded in the world, and therefore the strongest, besides one of my species. The Queen in the West, she is causing more harm to dragons than good. I have received word that her dragons attack human villages, and then the Vikings, in turn, attack the dragons, even capturing them in order to learn to fight against them. As the strongest, you two are assigned the task of freeing these captured dragons and, if necessary, taking down the Queen."**

Thunder gasped. **"My King, I hated to interrupt, but my sons… They are only eighteen. While they are the fiercest and strongest fighters in our nest, and they have faced these tasks before, facing a Queen is much worse. A Queen is almost as big as yourself."**

 **"They will be fine Thunder. Hiccup and Toothless are the strongest bonded I have seen in my very long life. Which is why I am also naming them my heirs."** The crowd of dragons that had gathered around gasped. The Great White King naming an heir was a huge deal. Bewilderbeasts lived for a thousand years give to take. And while they knew that the King was older, he was nowhere near that age. It meant that he was both extremely proud and loved the human and Night Fury and that he was preparing for the worst to occur.

Hiccup and Toothless knelt in front of the king again. This was an extremely high honor to be bestowed upon them. They were now going to be considered as Princes among their nest and to most dragons. Thunder's pride swelled in her heart. She was the proudest mother that ever lived.

 **"Rise, my Princes. The task that you must carry out will begin in the archipelago. I must warn you, dear Hiccup, that you will need to face your old tribe at some point again, maybe soon. The attacks on that island grow with every passing month by the Queen's nest,"** the King stated, not unkindly. He knew that Hiccup loathed speaking about his previous tribe and island.

"King, thank you for warning me," was all he replied with. He showed the utmost respect for the Great King and his predictions. It was, after all, part of the magic of the Alpha species. Toothless glanced at his brother, who showed no fear or regret or anger. Hiccup had indeed mastered the art of concealing his emotions from most. But the bond told the dragon a different story. He knew the raw mixed emotions that sailed inside Hiccups chest, the anger, pain, frustration, sadness and hatred. He also knew that if his brother didn't confront these emotions and leave them behind, they would eat him alive eventually.

Toothless made a resolution with himself. He would fly them both towards that island. Berk, Hiccup once called it. They would head that way, stopping to help islands and dragons along the way.

Thunder approached her boys… They were so grown up. Hiccup was a man and Toothless a grown dragon, bigger than her. She never noticed before… " **Hiccup, you will need to fashion armor. I have been saving the scales shed from your brother. May I suggest using this? Also, the other dragons have brought leather for the rest. The flaming sword also may be insufficient. Conceal some weapons and other tools upon your person so that you never go without. Toothless's satchel bag will also need to be filled with some provisions-"** she kept listing the things that need to be done. She always did.

Hiccup laid a hand on her snout. "Mother, it will be alright. We have gone before. We always return."

She nuzzled his face and neck. " **I know, son. You are so grown. I want you boys to protect each other. Always."**

 **"We will, mother,"** piped Toothless. **"We will come back eventually. Just promise to be here when we do."**

She laughed in her dragon way. **"Of course!"**

With that, the King dismissed them and they bowed. Hiccup and Toothless began preparing for their journey to the archipelago.

"Toothless have you seen the cans of Nightmare gel?" Hiccup called from the cave he stored his weapon parts.

 **"No! Oh wait… They're here. You put them by the entrance. Have you seen the fish?"**

"Is food all you think about?"

 **"No… Yeah, most of the time."**

Hiccup rolled his eyes. He couldn't judge too harshly. It was rare that Hiccup wasn't hungry. He burnt off a lot of energy working and running around, especially in the forge. It wasn't a forge in the traditional sense, but the Nightmares and Gronkles helped to melt down the metal he worked on. It got a bit hot in that cave.

Hiccup had never seen himself in a looking glass mirror before, only his reflection in pools of water. He knew he had green eyes, reddish brown hair and not the worst looking face in the world. His body on the other hand… While he was scrawny and small when he was younger, he had shot up tall, to be about six foot two, with a lean, muscular body. He had no fat on him, but he wasn't big and stocky like most Vikings. It was actually a comfort to him because he didn't want to be like them.

His bond with Toothless, combined with twelve years of being in a dragon family had given him the strength of a Nightmare, the senses of a Nadder and the swiftness of a Night Fury. The bond had also been kind on Toothless. He was much quicker and stronger than all other Night Furies, and the extremely rare ability to never run out of fire. His skin had also thickened, so much that a human arrow could not pierce him.

"The fish is in the basket already, bud. Never leave home without it. Trust me. Now, I'm pretty much ready," he announced, sliding his Gronkle Iron blade into place by his wrist. "You?"

 **"Yeah, Hiccup. I'm good."** Hiccup proceed to load the basket onto Toothless and secure it properly. **"I can feel it, it's on properly."**

"Just making sure," Hiccup smiled. "This is going to be an adventure."

Toothless rolled his dragon eyes. **"You say that every time we leave."**

"Well, it's true! Every time we fly, it's a new adventure." The brothers walked out of the cavern's side by side. You never know what is going to happen or where we are going to go and end up."

 _I know where we are going_ , Toothless thought. He didn't say it out loud, though.

Most of the nest was gathered around the entrance of the sanctuary, ready to say their goodbyes to the brothers. The King hushed the noises, "Goodbye, young princes, and good luck in your quest. The dragons of the world are behind you both."

They bowed to the King, waved and took off in flight. Thunder watched until she could no longer see them, and then kept watching for hours after.


	4. Chapter 3

When they were flying, they mainly stayed above the clouds to avoid detection during the day. At night, however, they could go as low and high as they liked, as Toothless blended into the darkness so well. It wasn't until the second night of flying that they came upon a village which was being attacked by dragons.

They stopped on a nearby sea stack and studied the fight. The dragons were raiding the village and the Vikings were fighting them off. After a while, they couldn't just sit around and no do anything. "Okay, Toothless, aim for that watchtower. That'll get the attention of the dragons."

The telltale whistle of the Night Fury dive was the only indication that it gave of its presence at the raid. Stoick the Vast, the Chief of Berk was surprised that the dragon was there in the first place. They hadn't had a Night Fury attack in years. In the next second, however, the northern watchtower was destroyed in a blast of purple rings and yellow fire. The loudest, most ear-splitting roar Stoick had ever heard his life sounded over Berk. Most Vikings covered their ears, attempting to drown the sound out. In the next few moments, all the dragons and Vikings in the area stopped and stared. Then, the dragons, seemingly all at once took off into the night, leaving the village as if they had been called away.

Which in fact they had. The blast from the Night Fury had caught their attention, and then Toothless roared, **"Get out of there! Leave now!"** Most dragons knew that to disobey a Night Fury usually meant death. So they all left, taking whatever kill they had managed for that raid. Although they could get eaten by the Red Death Queen, they knew not to cross the black dragon. Dragons that didn't have many kills moved to grab fish from the ocean or some wild livestock.

Toothless and Hiccup hovered for a while to ensure that the dragons did not come back. And then he watched. He saw his father for the first time in twelve years. The man was the same. Gobber tried to say something to him that he didn't want to hear, so he shook his head and dismissed him. Hiccup could remember Stoick doing the same thing to him because he never wanted to hear about Hiccup's interests. The Chief was always more concerns about being a Chief than being a father. The pain tugged at Hiccup's heart, and Toothless felt it. He began to whine. "I'm okay, bud."

But the dragon knew he wasn't okay at all. He could feel the pain Hiccup felt through their bond. Toothless knew they had to land for some rest, so he picked a cove on Berk, one that afforded them some privacy, a small pond with some fish for Toothless. The wall was high and made of rock, which also meant they would be aware of any unwanted guests in the area. They didn't make a fire because they didn't want to alert anyone to their presence on the island, meaning Hiccup curled up next to his brother for warmth.

The next morning, Hiccup and Toothless discussed what they were going to do. Hiccup wanted to try to find the nest as soon as possible, but Toothless wanted to remain here of Berk for a bit. He used the cover of wanting to free the dragons in the kill arena, but really, he wanted Hiccup to face his village. He also wanted Hiccup to convince the tribe that humans and dragons didn't have to be enemies. Hiccup was very wary about both of those ideas.

"But Toothless, if you want to get them to be friends, you have to stop the raids first. That'll be your biggest issue. And to do that, you have to kill the Queen. So my plan works out better."

Toothless growled in annoyance, hating that his brother was punching holes in his argument. So instead of dragging out this conversation, he came out with it. **"We aren't leaving, Hiccup, until you face your issues here on this island."**

Hiccup's eyes widened in surprise. "Wha- What are you talking about, Toothless?"

Toothless rolled his eyes. **"You know exactly what I mean. This is where you come from, and I know one of these Vikings is your father." He paused. "Hiccup, you are in pain. I hate it. You need to get closure so you can let it go."** He felt the rage building inside his brother at his words, but he kept going, needing him to understand. "You are my brother, Hiccup, but you weren't born it. You need to acknowledge and love all parts of yourself before you can be the best you can. The King would expect nothing less of his princes if we were to ever lead the nest."

For a while, the human said nothing. Hiccup stared into the eyes of the black dragon and slowly felt the anger fade away. He wasn't angry at his brother anyway, not really. He was angry that his brother was right. But even so, how could he go back into that village? How could he, in good conscience, go to see the people that had neglected and rejected him, constantly putting him through physical, emotional and mental pain?

Toothless felt his internal turmoil and nudged him, rubbing his head against his arm. **"You don't have to go alone, you know. I'll be with you."**

Hiccup laughed humourlessly. "They'll murder you on sight, Toothless." Toothless made a noise that almost sounds like a scoff. "They really would, bud. Don't underestimate the power of an angry, out of control, stubborn Viking."

Toothless laid down, placing his head on his front paws and ignored Hiccup's concerns. They sat in silence for a while, Hiccup deep in thought about how he would even get into the village and introduce himself, and Toothless gradually falling asleep in the sun. As night fell, however, they started hearing noise coming from the direction of the village. Another dragon raid.

They took off. This group of raiding dragons mainly consisted on Nightmares, Nadders and Gronkles. Toothless flew silently, ensuring to blend himself into the night sky. Hiccup and Toothless studied the raid again. This time, it was a bit more brutal, more fires being started because of the increase in the number of Nightmares. But then the Vikings got one of the Nightmares caught in chains and bolas. "Toothless, dive!"

The dragon did exactly that, not needing instruction on where to. The whistle he made through the air alerted the Vikings once again. He managed to shoot a blast that freed the wings of the Nightmare, allowing it to get free. They rose into the night again, camouflaging their whereabouts so the Vikings didn't get any ideas about catching a Night Fury. Eventually, the dragon raid finished and they left. As the Vikings started with their clean up of the village, Hiccup decided, "Toothless, put me down near the kill arena. While they're busy, I can get the dragons out."

Toothless set his brother down a little bit away from the arena and then flew higher into the cliff side to hide. Slowly, Hiccup crept into the arena and was suddenly hit by a memory.

 _"But Dad, why can't I start learning to fight like the other kids?" It was normal for boys to start learning on Berk at the age of five. Hiccup had followed his father into the kill arena to try and convince him to let him learn. He was smaller than most other kids, so if he could learn to defend himself. It might also make his dad proud of him for the first time._

 _Stoick the Vast just chuckled and shook his head. "No, son. You can't fight. You're too small and clumsy. You'll just get in the way of training the other kids. Go find Gobber. He might be able to give you something to do." Little Hiccup had listened to his dad but had felt hurt, especially when he saw his cousin Snotlout in the arena, ready to learn. Stoick had ruffled Snotlouts hair in affection. He had never once done that for Hiccup._

Hiccup shook his head to get rid of the bad memory, but the pain still lingered. A small amount of sympathy entered his mind, letting him know that Toothless had felt his pain and responded in kind. He walked towards one of the cells and cranked the lever. A Nadder jumped out as soon as she could, having hated the cell that she was kept in. She prepared to attack Hiccup when he just stood there.

She had never encountered a human that had just stood there before. Her curiosity got the better of her and she squawked, **"What are you doing?"** She obviously didn't expect him to understand her.

"Getting you out of here. You should go before some of the Vikings come around," Hiccup informed her.

 **"You- You're letting me…go?"** The Nadder's surprise at being understood and then being let go outweighed the desperate need to fly. **"Are you helping the others?"**

 **"Yes, I am."** Hiccup then proceeded to open the other cage doors, but the Ladder never flew away. She waited and watched this human open let the dragons go, not expecting anything in return. The Nadder informed the other dragons that the human meant no harm, but all of them were still wary. Then one by one, they flew out of the arena, Hiccup running out lastly behind them. He made sure to close the cages again, so the Vikings wouldn't be alerted to the dragons' escape immediately.

Before Hiccup had a chance to leave, though, he heard a male voice call, "Hey, who are you?"

He turned and saw a stocky teen, probably around his age, with a brown fur tunic, fur armbands, and shoulder coverings. He looked familiar but he couldn't place him. Hiccup was thankful for the helmet he wore, not that he believed anyone would recognize him anyway. Nevertheless, he ran towards the cliff, where Toothless was waiting.

Fishlegs had no idea who this stranger was, but when he followed the man to the cliffs he vanished without a trace. He hurried down to the ill arena, but nothing seemed out of place or taken, so Fishlegs continued to make his rounds and didn't think to mention the man when Gobber asked if the arena was affected in the raid.

Hiccup and Toothless took off back to their cove after the Viking left the arena, and didn't make a sound as they went.


End file.
